Development of the perception survey
The survey was developed to assess the perception of four key concepts:
the susceptibility and severity of the risk, as well as the benefits,
and barriers linked to mitigating the risk. The perceived susceptibility
is an individual’s belief that risk can occur. The perceived severity is
the outcome of the risk. The perceived benefits are the expected
effectiveness of the practices to modify the consequences. The barriers
are the perceived obstacles to take action (Janz and Becker, 1984) or to
obtain benefits from these actions. Four major risks having an impact on
honey bee were assessed, i.e., climate change, Varroa destructorinfestation, pesticide exposure, and management practices. In addition
to the close-ended questions assessing the perceived susceptibility,
severity, benefits and barriers, questions related to demography (e.g.
age, years of experience, and the number of hives), psychological
characteristics (risk aversion), bee mortality rates, health
responsibility, actions, and influences have been asked. Beekeepers’
attitude to risk was derived by measuring their degree of risk aversion
using four statements on general issues (i.e. to read the medicine
prescription instructions before using them, to carry a first aid kit,
to take financial risks in order to invest and increase financial
opportunities, to consult various people before taking a decision)
(Appendix S1 ). The variable ‘relative risk aversion’ was
obtained as an average score of the stated values. To ensure
consistency, the questions were formulated in such a way that “yes”
implied a higher value and respondents could rate their agreement with
the statement on a hundred-point scale (0: not at all in agreement, 100:
completely in agreement) using a visual scale. To check the respondents’
rationality and internal consistency, some of the above variables were
assessed by multiple questions and consolidated in an average (seeAppendix S2 ). The questionnaire was pretested individually on
two experts in beekeeping and four beekeepers. It was then launched
online via the platform LimeSurvey.